1870
• Oregon’s population is 90,923. United States population is 38,558,371.• January 1, Second Great Council at the tribal reservation closes.
• January 10, Standard Oil Company is incorporated by John D. Rockefeller.• February, the Great Treaty of 1864 is proclaimed active.• February 14 – Modocs return to their old country on Lost River on a thirty day fishing pass. They meet Henry Miller and other new Tule Lake Basin settlers.• Shortly after the Modoc started building their homes, however, the Klamath, longtime rivals, began to steal the Modoc lumber. The Modoc complained, but the US Indian agent could not protect them against the Klamath.• Mid-March, Modocs return to the reservation and their difficulties with the Klamath heighten.
• H.E. Spencer purchased the Naylor Hockenhouse and his son R.A. Spencer ran it.• Several attempts were made by Captain Jack’s Modocs to find a suitable location, but the Klamath continued to harass the band.• Captain Jack and his band of Modocs left the reservation and returned to Lost River. During the months that his band had been on the reservation, a number of settlers had taken up former Modoc land in the Lost River region.• • A flume is built, delivering water to the Klamath Agency from “the bubbling springs of the little people.”• Beswick Hotel and Storage Barn at Shovel Creek, Klamath Hot Springs, twenty miles from Agar, California, is built along Topsy Grade which connected Yreka to Klamath Falls via Agar. The hotel had ten sleeping rooms.• Addie Clark and her father walked across the bed of Link River when it went dry, caused by a south wind that held the water back in Upper Klamath Lake.• O.C. Applegate begins building a road from pelican bay to Ashland-Jacksonville. Applegate names lake of the woods and builds cabins on the south shore.• The Swampland Act brings attention to the rich pasture lands of Klamath Country.
• The National Weather Service, known as the Weather Bureau, makes its first official meteorological forecast. “High winds at Chicago and Milwaukee… and along the Lakes.”

1871•• John Loosely completes an irrigation ditch at Wood River for a grain and hay farm.
• The Klamath School District organizes a three month school in Linkville.• June, Captain Jack shoots and kills a Modoc doctor whom he blames for his niece’s death. Ivan Applegate attempts to have Captain Jack arrested.
• July 16, Simpson Wilson and Nancy Hall are the known first marriage in Linkville.• Late July, G.S. Miller, a settler, gets into an argument with Modocs over hunting ducks on his lands.• Roundtrip from Yreka, California to Fort Klamath takes four days.• A 10′ x 25′ boat powered by two horses on a treadmill brings supplies from Pelican Bay to Fort Klamath.• • Thomas Sly brings early wagon train across Cascades with supplies for Fort Klamath.
• October 21, sending a letter from Ashland to Linkville by private express costs $2.50.
• November 17, the National Rifle Association is granted a charter by the State of New York.• November 29, Captain Jack explains to Ivan Applegate and others that the Modocs do not want to live with the Klamaths or on any reservation.
• December 11, first Post Office open in Linkville, George Nurse is postmaster.

1872
• Linkville’s population is 40.• January 3, J. M. True swears out a complaint against unnamed Modocs for stealing hay. Charles Monoroe gets into an argument with Modocs over stolen hay. In mid-January settler Poe is sure Modocs stole his whip.• February – May, Canby, Meachem, and Meachem’s future replacement, know arresting the Modoc would have dire consequences and struggle with what to do with the Modocs, who are adamant that they will not return to the reservation.
• A former salt water sailor named Moody runs a boat on a fairly regular run from Eulalona (Head of Link River) to the Klamath Agency or Agency Lake. This was a keel-bottomed boat about I0′ by 40′ with a small sail. The boat was named Mary Moody, probably after his Indian wife Mary.
• Silas Kilgore is given contract for first mail service to present day Klamath County area.
• George Thompson Baldwin arrived in Ashland from Missouri.• April 1, T.B. Odeneal replaces Alfred Meachem as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon.• April 3, Major Elmer Otis held a council with Captain Jack at Lost River Gap, near what is now Olene, Oregon. At the council, Major Otis presented Captain Jack with some settlers who complained about the behavior of Jack’s men. Captain Jack countered that the Modoc were abused and unjustly accused of crimes which other Indians had committed.• May 4, The Oregon Sentinel reports that the reported Indian troubles along the Lost River are unfounded. “The Indians are friendly and peaceful; and there has not been, nor is there now, any cause of alarm.”• May 22, Canby orders patrols to stop in Modoc country.• The California and Oregon Railroad reaches Redding from the south and the Oregon and California Railroad reaches Roseburg from the north.• Sam Colver takes an active part in trying to help the Modocs maintain peace. He has almost succeeded when a lynching party of whites set out to kill a band of Modoc coming to the reservation.• First gristmill is in place at Klamath Agency.• June 17, Odeneal recommends arresting Modoc chiefs.
• First July 4th celebration in Linkville.• July, false rumors in Lost River country say the Modocs are killing cattle in preparation for war. Many new settlers flee for “safety.”• July 6, Odeneal’s recommendations are approved to remove the Modoc from the Tule Lake Basin and returned to the Klamath Reservation.• • July 17, John Green assumes command at Fort Klamath.• July 28, frost destroys Yainax crops on Klamath Reservation. Old Schonchin’s people depend on government handouts for subsistence.
• John Loosely files homestead in the Wood River Valley.• Esther Hart, a full blood Klamath Indian born on the reservation was a cook, as a girl, for well-to-do families in Linkville. She wed Frank Silvers and they established Silver’s Resort on the Williamson Rover. When frank died, leaving her with six half-grown children. she married a young German immigrant, Hans Anderson, eho worked for her.• September, John Green and his troops on patrol pass near the Modocs, but no conference takes place.• October 5, Green reports that settlers insist the Modocs were constantly making trouble but could not name specifics.• October 20, Canby instructs Wheaton to give Odeneal aide, if necessary, to move Modocs. He instructs a large force should be used to end any battle quickly.
• October 21, Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany arbitrates the international boundary dispute, the Pig War, between the United States and Great Britain over the ownership of the straits between Washington Territory and Vancouver Island. He rules that San Juan Island is the property of the United States.• November 11, The Lost River Battle marks the first hostilities of the Modoc War (1872 -73).• November 20, Odeneal leaves Salem for Modoc country to set events in motion.• November 28, Captain James Jackson, commanding 40 troops, left Fort Klamath and arrived in Captain Jack’s camp on Lost River about a mile above Emigrant Crossing near present day Merrill on November 29.• November 29, wishing to avoid conflict, Captain Jack agreed to go to the reservation, but an argument erupted. One soldier had been killed and seven wounded in the encounter; the Modoc lost two killed and three wounded.• November 29-30, A small band of Modoc under Hooker Jim retreated from the battlefield to the Lava Beds south of Tule Lake. In attacks on November 29 and November 30, they killed a total of 18 settlers.• Late November, one group of Modocs, under the leadership of Hooker Jim, proceeded east around Tule Lake, killing 14 male settlers in retaliation for the attack by troops.• Late November, Captain Jack and Hooker Jim’s were later joined by Hooker Jim’s band.• December 3, Jump Off Joe and his militia reached the outskirts of the Stronghold. While reconnoitering the area around a dry creek bed, they were attacked. They attempted to take shelter in the creek bed, but were quickly overcome; and the Modoc killed all 23 men.• December, another band of Modoc, the Hot Creeks, joined Captain Jack after they had been tricked by settlers into thinking that they were all going to be hanged for being Modoc.• December 21, a Modoc party scouting from the Stronghold attacked an ammunition wagon at Land’s Ranch.• By January 15, 1873, the U. S. Army had 400 troops in the field near the Lava Beds.

1873• January 16, troops from Land’s ranch, commanded by Col. R. F. Bernard, skirmished with the Modoc near Hospital Rock.• January 17, Army’s disastrous attack on Captain Jack’s Stronghold. In the attack, the U.S. Army lost 35 men killed, and 5 officers and 20 enlisted men wounded. 52 Modoc warriors suffered no casualties in the fighting, as they had the advantage of terrain and local knowledge over the militia.• January 25, Columbus Delano, Secretary of the Interior, appointed a Peace Commission to negotiate with Captain Jack. The Commission consisted of Alfred B. Meacham, the former superintendent for Oregon as chairman; Jesse Applegate, and Samuel Case. General Edward Canby, commander in the Pacific Northwest, was appointed to serve the Commission as counselor. Frank and Toby Riddle were appointed as interpreters.• February 19, the Peace Commission held its first meeting at Fairchild’s ranch, west of the lava beds.
• March 14, Emma Evalyn Wilson is the first known white girl born in the region, in Langell Valley.• April, Gillem’s Camp was established at the edge of the Lava Beds, two and one-half miles west of the Stronghold. Col. Alvan C. Gillem was placed in command of all troops, including those at Hospital Rock commanded by Col. E. C. Mason.
• The federal government opens a land office in Linkville.• Topsy Grade is built between Linkville and Keno to connect with Yreka, an important freight road.• April 12, Reverend James Dickerson Bonner ran a stage station on the Pioneer route over Sugar Hill. As an Elder, he conducted church mettings of five valley residents.• April 2, the Peace Commission and Captain Jack met in the Lava Beds midway between the Stronghold and Gillem’s Camp. After much discussion, the meeting broke up with no resolution.• April 5, Captain Jack requested a meeting with Meacham. Accompanied by John Fairchild and Judge Roseborough, with Frank and Toby Riddle serving as interpreters. The meeting ended with no agreement. After Meacham returned to camp, he sent a message to Captain Jack, asking that he meet the commission at the peace tent on April 8. While delivering this message, the Modoc interpreter Tobey Riddle learned of the Modoc plan to kill the peace commissioners. On her return, she warned the commissioners.• April 8, just as the commissioners were starting for the peace tent, the signal tower on the bluff above Gillem’s Camp received a message; it said that the lookout had seen five Modoc warriors at the peace tent and about 20 armed Modoc hiding among the rocks nearby. The commissioners realized that the Modoc were planning an attack and decided to stay at Gillem’s.• April 10, the commission sent a message asking Captain Jack to meet with them at the peace tent on the following morning.• April 11, General Canby, Alfred B. Meacham, Rev. E. Thomas, and L. S. Dyar, with Frank and Toby Riddle as interpreters, met with Captain Jack, Boston Charley, Bogus Charley, Schonchin John, Black Jim, and Hooker Jim. General Canby and Reverend Thomas were murdered. Dyer and Frank Riddle escaped by running. Meacham fell seriously wounded. US efforts for peace ended when the Modoc killed the commissioners.• April 15, U.S. Army attacks Stronghold, fighting continued throughout the day, the troops remaining in position during the night.• April 16, each advance of troops was under heavy fire from the Modoc positions. That night the troops succeeded in cutting the Modoc off from their water supply at the shore of Tule Lake.• April 17, everything was in readiness for the final attack on the Stronghold. When the order was given to advance, the troops charged into the Stronghold but Modocs escaped through an unguarded crevice after heavy bombardment from US Army snubnosed Coehorn mortars. US casualties included one officer and six enlisted men killed, and thirteen enlisted men wounded between • April 15-17. Modoc casualties were two boys, reported to have been killed when they tried to open a cannonball and it exploded. Several Modoc women were reported to have died from sickness.• April 26, Captain Evan Thomas commanding five officers, sixty-six troops and fourteen Warm Spring Scouts were attacked by 22 Modoc led by Scarfaced Charley. Some of the troops fled in disorder. Those who remained to fight were either killed or wounded. US casualties included four officers killed and two wounded, one dying within a few days, and 13 enlisted men killed and 16 wounded.• May 2, Bvt. Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis, the new commander of the Department of the Columbia, reported to relieve Gillem of command, and assume control of the army in the field.• May 10, Battle of Dry Lake, at first light, the Modoc attacked an Army encampment at Dry Lake. The troops charged, routing the Modoc. Casualties among the Army included five men killed, two of whom were Warm Spring Scouts, and twelve men wounded. The Modoc reported five warriors killed.• June 1, As troops headed west expecting to locate Captain Jack, they found Hooker Jim and his followers, who surrendered. Hooker Jim and three other Modoc offered to track down Captain Jack who surrendered at Willow Creek on June 1 and the Modoc War comes to an end.• June 4, Captain Jack, his wife, and little girl were captured by Army scouts,’Captain’ William F. Drannan and George Jones in Langell’s valley. (This account disagrees with previous account).• July 4, General Davis prepared to execute Captain Jack and his leaders, but the War Department ordered the Modoc to be held for trial. The Army took Captain Jack and his band as prisoners of war to Fort Klamath, where they arrived.•• July 8, Captain Jack, Schonchin John, Black Jim, Boston Charley, Brancho (Barncho) and Slolux were tried by a military court for the murders of Canby and Thomas, and attacks on Meacham and others. The six Modoc were convicted, and sentenced to death.
• Pre-stamped penny postcards were presented.
• August 18, Robert Spink was born near Atlanta, Georgia, son of James W, Spink, a Kentucky native.• September 10, President Ulysses S. Grant approved the death sentence for Captain Jack, Schonchin John, Black Jim and Boston Charley; Brancho and Slolux were committed to life imprisonment on Alcatraz. Grant ordered that the remainder of Captain Jack’s band be held as prisoners of war.
• September 18, 1873 – An economic depression begins when the New York stock market crashed, setting off a financial panic that caused bank failures. The impact of the depression would continue for five years.• • November 3, Captain Jack, along with three others, are hung and buried in Fort Klamath for the murder of General Canby.• November 16, 153 Modoc men, women and children arrived in Baxter Springs, Kansas under federal custody.• November 30, The Modocs arrived by wagon at the Quapaw Agency at Seneca Springs, Ottawa County, Oklahoma. Five Modoc children attended school on their alloted 1600 acres. Modocs will not be allowed to return until after the turn of the century.

1874• February 1, Klamath Agency Boarding School opens with 15 pupils• Peter Britt takes the first known photos of Linkville and Crater Lake.
• Daniel Gordon built the second privately owned mill near Keno. He sold it to his son-in-law Newton W. Pratt three years later.• According to an official report the Modocs had made more progress with less land than any of the other Indians under jurisdiction of the Quapaw.• Topsy Grade connects Linkville and Yreka.
• July 15, First school district for permanent yearly attendance established in Linkville.
• October 24, Lake County is created out of Jackson County. Linkville is named the county seat.

1875
• April, George Fiok buys the first state land parcel in Linkville.• Scarfaced Charlie was deposed as Chief of the Oklamoma band of Modocs and Bogus Charley, 25, was appointed Chief.
• George Baldwin came to Linkville and established a small tin shop near the Link River Bridge.

1876
• January 31, original date issued by the United States government ordering all Native Americans onto a system of reservations throughout the western lands of the United States. Although the date would be extended by President Grant, this issue would lead to the Great Sioux War of 1876.• First wagon bridge spanning the Rogue River at Gold Hill was a tollgate built by Thomas Chavner.• First mail route from Yreka is established via Topsy Grade.
• Ashland prints its first newspaper, The Tidings.
• The French create an international company, La Société internationale du Canal interocéanique, was created to undertake dig what would become the Panama Canal.

1877• Fall, Albert S. Gatschet is the first ethnographer to visit Klamath Indian country.
• First community Christmas tree in Linkville.
• • W.S. Moore and Rufus Moore dig a ditch to power his sawmill at the south end of Upper Klamath Lake. The ditch also supplied water to a log f1ume, 1,000 feet long, to transport logs from Upper Klamath Lake.
• Over 150,000 Chinese emigrants are on the west coast under labor contract.

1878
• January 28, in New Haven, Connecticut, the first commercial telephone exchange is opened.• J. Frank Adams started ranching on Tule Lake Basin land northeast of Lost River. He supported the Van Brimmers with their irrigation canal project and started to build another six-mile canal system that tied into the Van Brimmers’canal and provided water for the east side of Lost River. To the south was the shores of Tule lake. Over the years Adams would expand his canal system to cover most of the land north of Tule Lake and east of the Lost River. Irrigated agriculture in the Tule Lake Basin was proven feasible.
• Linkville platted in a forty acre plan.• Beswick Hotel at Klamath Hot Springs along Topsy Grade is rebuilt out of native stone.
• First log cabin built in Lakeview, Oregon.•Linkville Water Ditch Company built a canal from Link River to irrigate town lots in Klamath Falls. Known as the Ankeny-Henley Canal, it was extended to Klamath Valley, and divided, one branch paralleling Lost River on the west side, the other passing through Olene Gap into Poe Valley.

1879• January 6, Fort Klamath post office is established at the fort.
• H.M. Thatcher and Sykes Worden build the steamboat General Howard. It is 12′ by 65′ at a cost of $8,000. The boss carpenter for the project had designed the Merrimac of Civil War fame.